Plastic fittings



Feb. 9, 1965 A. J. wlL'rsHlRE 3,158,905

PLASTIC FITTINGS FIIed'June 29, 1961 2 sheets-sheet I INVEN TOR. ARTHUR J. 'VV/ITSH/RE Ar' orneys A. J. WlLTSHlRE PLASTIC FITTINGS Feb. 9, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 29, 1961 INVENTOR.

ARTHUR J, VV/LTSH/F? BY ,/A,V 44A A i'rorneys United States Patent O 3,68,905 PLAS'RHC FI'ITNGS Arthur J. Wiltshire, Cleveland, Ohio, assigner to Structural Fibers, Inc., Chardon, Ohio, a corporation of Sirio Filed Enne 29, 1961, Ser. No. 120,693 l Claim. (Cl. 37--590) This invention relates generally to plastic fittings, and more particularly to plastic fittings which are intended to be used to form pipe connections to fiber-reinforced plastic tanks, such as domestic water softener tanks and hot water tanks.

Heretofore, it has been the conventional practice to construct fittings of the type described from brass or other metal and to thread the fittings into tapped holes formed in the Walls of the plastic tanks. Since metal fittings may have a modulus of elasticity of from 8 to l0 times that of the fiber-reinforced plastic tanks (for example, 12 10s p.s.i. as compared to 1.5 106 p.s.i.), the Walls of the tanks tend to walk away from the fittings when the tanks are expanded by internal pressures That is, the tapped holes in the walls of the tank will expand or pull away from the metal ttings to result in leaky, unsatisfactory connections.

Prior art attempts to overcome the foregoing problem and to maintain a fluid seal between the metal fittings and the plastic tanks have included forming the fittings with a peripheral flange or collar which is milled to have a conical side surface for seating a pliable, specially molded Washer or gasket. In use, the fittings have beentightly threaded into the walls of the tanks so as to forcibly compress the washers between the conical seating surfaces and the exterior surfaces of the tank walls. In most instances it also has been necessary to provide a separate metal ring around the washer to prevent it from expanding radially outwardly of the fitting when the washer is forcibly cornpressed.

When tanks of the type described are subjected to the 'water line pressures, the metal fitting. and washer assemblies of the prior art usually are not capable of maintaining a fiuid-tight seal and thus permit at least some undesirable leakage around the fitting. Moreover, the special construction of these conventional fitting assemblies have made them inordinately expensive components of the tank structures.

The conventional fitting assemblies also have madeV it necessary to spot-face the tank walls by milling a fiat area around the tapped holes so that the rubber washers can firmly seat against the external wall surfaces of the tanks. This spot-facing or milling operation has a tendency to structurally weaken the tanks, since the material which is removed decreases their hoop strength and results in a sharp discontinuity in Wall thickness of the tanks. In order to compensate for the material which is removed and thus prevent the tanks from splitting longitudinally under internal pressures, it has been the usual practice to thicken the tank walls in the regions where the tapped holes are subsequently formed. In accordance with the manufacturing procedures for producing molded, fiber reinforced plastic tanks as disclosed in Patent No. 2,977- 268 of Donald W. Randolph, granted April 27, 1961, this has been accomplished by laying up separate pads of uncompressed, fibrous reinforcing material within an assembly of fiber matting forms prior to pressure-compacting and impregnating them with a liquid, settableresin. For example, in a` typical instance where 3/32 of an inch of Patented Fels. 9, M555 of pipes through which the soft water is emitted. When forming the pipe connection, it is customary to connect a generally S-shaped distributor tube to the fitting so that the inner projecting end of the tube extends to a position closely adjacent the bottom wall of the tank. Heretofore, it has been difficult to thread the conventional fittings into the tapped holes the exact distance required to compress the pliable sealing washers and, at the same time, to rotationally adjust the fittings so that the attached distributor tubes are properly located Within the tanks.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide improved fittings for forming fiuid-tight connections of pipes to plastic pressure vessels.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved fitting of the type described in the previous paragraph which may be threadedly connected .into the walls of fiber-reinforced plastic pressure tanks without requiring special milling operations on the tanks which, heretofore, have structurally weakened them and contributed to their ultimate failure.

Still another object of the invention is to provide fittings for plastic tanks which offer improved performance over conventional metal fittings and, at the same time, are less expensive and easier to install.

A further object is to provide pipe Aconnection fittings which are particularly adapted to installation in plastic water softener tanks and which are specifically constructed to effect a non-turbulent fiow of water from the tanks.

In general, the foregoing objects are attained by forming the fittings from a plastic material which is selected to have a lower modulus of elasticity than the plastic tank in which the fitting is installed. Because of the difference in the relative moduli of elasticity, the fittings `.vill expand more rapidly than will'the tanks when subjected to internal pressures. As a result, a fluid-tight connection may be assured between the fittings and the tank Walls without employing the relatively complex and expensive fitting assembly constructions of the prior art.

Another advantage is that plastic fittings made according to the invention may be installed to effect a fiuidtight connection without milling or spot-facing the tank Wall The eiimination of this conventional spot-facing operation on plastic tanks reduces the cost of their manufacture, improves their strength, and reduces the wall thickness or bulk which has been required in the Walls of the tanks around the tapped holes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: FiGURE l is a side elevational view, partially in crossi section, of a fiber-reinforced plastic Water softener tank `material is removed by the spot-facing operation, at least in which is installed a fitting made in accordance with the invention;

FGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary View of the tank and fitting assembly shown in FlG. l;

FGURE 3 is an enlarged, fragmmenary cross-sectional view of a tank similar to that of l, but illustrating the conventional metal fitting connection of the prior art; Y

. FIGURE 4 is an end view of a modified construction of the plastic fittings comprising the invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a side View of the fitting of FIG. 4, shown partly broken away and partly in section taken along the line 5-5 of FlG. 4.

Reference is first made to HG. 3, which iilustrates the prior art practice according to which pipe connections to plastic tanks were made by means of metal fittings. Reference numeral l@ designates a fiber-reinforced plastic water softener tank having a cylindrical side wall it, a bottom wall l2, and a top wall (not shown) generally connection of the pipe l to the tank 3d.

corresponding to the bottom wall. In accordance with the manufacturing procedures disclosed in the aboveidentified Randolph patcnt,'the construction of the tank lll is shown to include a thickened side wall portion l?) which may be formed by laying-up pads of fibrous reinforcing material against the inner surface of an assembly of fiber matting forms which is substantially in the shapel by this spot-facing operation which, as noted above, has

often deleteriously affected the strength of the tank by decreasing its hoop strength.

The conventional metal fitting Ztl for forming a pipe connection to the tank is shown to include an externally threaded, male end Zlwhich is threaded into the accommodating hole i3, and an opposite female end 22 into which a pipe (not shown) may be connected. The fit- Zll is formed'with an integral peripheral step 23; having a conical end surface Z4, and a specially molded sealing washer 25, formed of rubber or the like, is mounted on'the male end 2l of the fitting in position to be compressed between the flange 23 and the tank wall lill when the fitting is threaded into the tapped hole lh. A metal ringy 2d is usually installed around the washer ZS to prevent it from expanding radially outwardly.

As explainedabove, it hasbeen foundthat the tank itl, whichhas a substantially lower modulus of elasticity than the metal fitting Ztl, expands relativelyl ra idly when the vpressure in the tank builds up, thus causing the wall il to pull away from the fitting and permitting fluid leakage. This inherentdefect has, in the past, been only parti -ly remedied by the provision of 'the sealing washer 2.5, which is intended to be compressed against the spotfaced area i9 to prevent iiuid leakage around the male end 2l of the fitting.

There also shown in lilG. 3. the generally .S-shaped distributor tube Z7 which has one end inserted into the fitting 2li with a slotted length 28 extending downwardly toward the bottom wall l2 of the tank. Water, which has, been softened by filtering down through a suitable bed in the tank, isdischarged through the distributor tube 27. it is therefore essential to the proper functioning of the soft water tank lil that'the slotted end 2li of the tube be positioned'near the bottom wall l2.

However, when threading the fitting Ztl into the hole to compress the washer 25, it is diflicult to assure that the inner projecting end 23 of the attached distributor tube 27 will be properly positioned, since it will obviously rotate as the fitting is turned. For example, it frequently occurs that the end 28 of the tube will project upwardly instead of downwardly when the fitting has been threadedly advanced into the hole lli the proper amount. In such instances, the fitting may be either backed ofi,

Vwhich obviously increases the chance of water leaking from the tank around the fitting, or it may be threadedly advanced an additional distance into the hole which may distort and unduly stress the tank wall by compressing and crushing the reinforced plastic material. 1

Reference is now made to FlGS. l and 2 which illustrate one embodiment of the invention for forming a The tank 30 is similar to the above described tank ltlfand includes a cylindrical side wall 3l, a bottom wall 32 and a top wall 33. `A lower portion 34 of the side wall 3l is of relatively thick cross-section and through this thickened side wall portionis formed a tapped hole 35. Y Threaded into the hole 35 is a molded plastic fitting Lil). which is preferablyrformed with externally threaoed male ends 4l and 42 (FIG. 2). In accordance with the invention, the plastic fitting fiati has a modulus of elasticity which is less than that of the tank 30 and which is pref erably less than l 106 p.s.i. Thermoplastic, including nylon molding compounds, acetal resins such as Delrin (E. I. du Pont de Nemours la Co), polycarbonates such as Lexan (General Electric Co.), and similar resins, have been found particularlysuitable for the purposes of the present invention because of their molding qualities, low moduli of elasticity, resistance to moisture absorption, and generally good mechanical properties.

In use the fitting 4l) need only be threaded into the hole a sufficient distance to prevent water under static pres-sure from leaking around it. When the pressure in the tank is increased, the fitting dllwill tend to expand more rapidly than the hole 35 because of its relativelyy low modulus of elasticity and will thusbe restrained by the surrounding tank structure and maintain a fluid-tightconnection. Inasmuch as the modulus of elasticity of the fitting also is less than that of the metal -elbow l5- rl`h`e ability ofthe plastic fitting 40 to maintain a fluid-V tight connectionwith parts having higher moduli Vof elasticity affords several'unexpected advantages in the specific illustrated environment wherein the fittings areV installed in plastic pressure vessels, and, particularly fiberreinforced plastic water softener tanks. For example,

" since an exact threaded position of the fitting 4G within the hole 35' is not critical, the generally S-shaped dis- 5, a plastic elbowV` fitting 50 is formed with axially er:-` tending partit-ionsrSIlV and 52.Y These partitions-,which `are shown as being disposed at right angles to each other,

advantageously affect the flow characteristics of the` liquid Y which is conducted from the tanks under pressure. V.More

tributor tube 47, which corresponds to thepreviously described tube 27 of FIG. 3, may be easily assembled and located in the proper manner with its inner end V43 eX- tending toward the bottom wall 32 of the tank. In so doing, it is merely necessaryto mark a visible, external portion of the fitting with a line orl the like which indicates a rotational position in which the tube extends downwardly within the tank.' The fitting 4h, with the tube 47 attached thereto, may be then threadedl intoi the hole` 35 until it is tight andthe mark on the fitting indicates that the-tube is properly located.

Another advantagewill be apparent by yconsidering FlGS. 2 and 3 in'conjun'ction.- As shown in FIG. 2, the fitting lll maybe installed inthe tank Btl without spotfacing its outer surface around the hole 35.A The elimination of this4V machining operationreduces the cost of manufacturing the tanks, and, at rthe same time,- improves their strength, since sharp discontinuities in` the wall thickness, which may adversely affect the resistance of the tanks to fatigue, are avoided. Concomitantly, the l thickness of the side wall portion 3d needV not be as great as illustrated in FIG. 3-vso that a saving of material is effected. y a

It will-be apparent from the foregoingdescription that the fitting lo may be of many shapes than the straightl particularly, the partitions 51 and 52'act to break up'the swirling actionV of the water passing through the fitting and thus materially reduce the turbulent fiow of the stream. Instead of constructing the `fitting 50 with two, right angularly disposed internal partitions, the fitting may be formed with only one partition, or it may be formed with two or more partitions, relatively disposed at angles other than 90.

A particular advantage of both embodiments of this invention is that the plastic fittings may be readily molded in nished form and are considerably less expensive than the relatively complex metal fitting assemblies of the prior art.

Many additional modifications and variations of the invention will obviously be apparent to those skilled in the art in View of the foregoing detailed disclosure. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically shown` and described.

What is claimed is:

A Water softener tank assembly comprising a tiberreinforced plastic tank, said tank having a top wall, a bottom wall, and a cylindrical side wall, said side wall having a threaded hole formed therethrough, a pipe fitting having a male end threadedly engaged Within said hole, said tting being formed of plastic and having a lower modulus of elasticity than the material of said tank so that its male end will expand within said hole when subjected to internal Huid pressure, and such expansion will be restrained by the surrounding material of the tank to thereby maintain a fluid-tight connection, and a distributor tube, said tube having one end engaged within said male end of said fitting and having its other end extending downwardly within said tank to a position closely adjacent said bottom wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,340,926 i 2/44 Bradley 285-423 X 2,566,502 9/61 Smith 137-317 X 2,580,818 1/52 Mundy 285-40 2,786,643 3/57 Carlstedt 251--144 2,988,321 1/61 Gilmont 251-368 X FOREIGN PATENTS 435,425 9/ 35 Great Britain. 633,182 12/49 Great Britain.

M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner. 

